Duty and VAT Information for EU Clients
If you are a client based in the EU, please read our below guidance on how the final cost of your order will be calculated.
How much will I pay for UK Lots I have won and want to receive?
When you purchase UK Lots on our website from any destination within the EU, the final cost of your order can be calculated as:
Hammer Price
+
Buyer’s Commission (12.5% of the Hammer Price)
Please note: UK 20% VAT is applicable on service charges including the Buyer's Commission.
+
Shipping or storage service fee (if applicable)
If shipping is selected:
+ Local taxation and duties may be eligible upon arrival in the destination country. These are variable based on the destination and are payable by the client.
How much will I pay for EU Lots I have won and want to receive?
When you purchase EU Lots on our website from any destination within the EU, the final cost of your order can be calculated as:
Hammer Price
+
Buyer’s Commission (12.5% of the Hammer Price)
Please note: NL 21% VAT is applicable on service charges including the Buyer's Commission.
+
Shipping charge (if applicable)
Our shipping prices for EU lots have been updated to include an excise charge. This reflects the costs managed on your behalf by Whisky Auctioneer for moving excise duty products within the EU.
or Storage charge (if applicable)
Our regular storage charge of 2% of the hammer price per lot, per 90 day period, apply. There will be no additional excise charge required until you choose to either Ship or Collect your order.
or Collection charge (if applicable)
All items auctioned in the Netherlands require an excise charge. If you choose to collect either in-person, or via a third party, this will be invoiced and payment required prior to collection. This charge reflects the costs managed on your behalf by Whisky Auctioneer for moving excise duty products within the EU for sale on our platform.
Please note: Clients collecting lots in person, or via a third party courier, are responsible for customs declarations in their home country in line with normal regulations on personal allowances.
Questions and Answers
I would like to collect my order - what is the excise charge that will be applied?
All items auctioned from the Netherlands require an excise charge. If you choose to ship your order, this charge is reflected in your shipping cost.
If you choose to collect your order in-person or arrange a third-party courier collection, this will be invoiced and payment required prior to collection. The excise charge will be applied at £6.00 (inc. VAT) per bottle for all clients collecting their orders from our Netherlands office.
More Detailed Information on the EU Horizontal Excise Directive and Distance Selling
On 13 February 2023, EU Directive 2020/262 became law and Member States began applying new duty rules on the cross-border movement of duty-paid excise goods within the EU. These rules make the taxation of excise goods, such as whisky, fully digitalised to allow an immediate information exchange on the movement of such goods across the European Union.
Under the new measures, all businesses moving excise goods from one Member State to another in the EU are subject to general arrangements set out in the Directive. For Distance Selling (the sale to a private person across EU borders) excise goods which have already been released for consumption and are transported to another Member State will be subject to excise duty in the Member State of destination. The person liable to pay the excise duty is the Consignor - in this case, Whisky Auctioneer is the Consignor.
As a result of this, an excise charge is applied to all EU auction orders for clients based in the EU - this is already reflected in your Shipping Cost. If you choose to collect your order in-person or arrange your own courier, this will be invoiced separately prior to collection.
Whisky Auctioneer has been working with leading legal and customs specialists across the EU to ensure that our services are compliant with these rules. We firmly believe in acting in the best interest of our clients, and as the Consignor it is our obligation to ensure compliance with these rules on our EU customers’ behalf.
If you would like further information, you can read Article 44 which covers Distance Selling within EU Directive 2020/262 here.
I’m a certified consignee in a country currently not listed with a shipping service – can you ship to me?
If you are a certified consignee, as prescribed within in the 2020 EU Horizontal Excise Directive, then we will be able to ship to you.
Please contact our Client Service team to notify us of your certified consignee status and we will review this. Once confirmed, we will arrange shipment to you.
If I'm based in the EU, do I need to pay VAT on a UK+VAT lot?
If a UK+VAT lot is selected to be shipped outwith the UK at the point of order payment, VAT is not required and will not be applied to the order.
If a UK+VAT lot remains in the UK - either shipped to a UK address, collected from our Perth office or stored in our UK storage service, then the 20% VAT will be applied to the Hammer Price and Buyer Charges. If your order is in storage with us and you choose to ship to a destination outside the UK at a later date, the VAT can be refunded. Please note, the VAT can only be refunded in this scenario if delivery is complete within 90 days of the original payment date.
